unfair

[usagal99]

why are we being charged fees on shipping, we dont gain anything from that.

[inhawaii]

Am I the only one here who agrees with the OP?

I bought a widget for $100 last year.

I sold it on ebay for $100.

Why is ebay charging me a fee?

I didn't gain anything.

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

@inhawaii 

I like your logic, let me take it a step further ...

I sold an item for a profit, but let's break it down ... I had to re-coup my money, pay for shipping materials, pay for operating costs, pay income taxes (seriously??! Where the heck did my "gain" go!?!?)... jesus! EBay is ripping me off! Why can't they just charge fees on my actual profit?... I only gained a small part off the sale price!! They are trying to stiff me and make the profit smaller!! How dare they! I did all the work!

[meadowfairy]

Originally Ebay didn't charge fees on shipping.   So, sellers decided to scam their way out of paying final value fees.  Say a seller has an item worth $200.  The seller would list the item for $1 with $220 for shipping (the $20 for actual shipping).  Ebay would only be able to charge fees on $1.  Because sellers were doing this, Ebay started the fees on shipping.  

[joliztoyco]

Blame it on your fellow " sellers".

They're the ones that were scamming Ebay with their BIN auctions for a dollar and charging 99 dollars for " shipping" . Because at the time Ebay only charged FVF's on the auction.

Not the shipping. So they collected 100 bucks and paid an auction fee on a dollar.

Ebay got tired of their scammy ways and changed the structure of Final Value Fees to include shipping.

Hope this helps..

[mybigsale]

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@usagal99 
@joliztoyco 
@u @meadowfairy wrote:

Originally Ebay didn't charge fees on shipping.   So, sellers decided to scam their way out of paying final value fees.  Say a seller has an item worth $200.  The seller would list the item for $1 with $220 for shipping (the $20 for actual shipping).  Ebay would only be able to charge fees on $1.  Because sellers were doing this, Ebay started the fees on shipping.  

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Of course, eBay started that long ago when eBay didn't know the actual shipping costs sellers paid for shipping.

Now that eBay knows the actual cost sellers pay with eBay shipping and could know with other online shipping services (who automatically receive shipping info from eBay and update tracking numbers and could update actual shipping paid by seller if eBay wanted). They have no reason to earn a commission on shipping (except extra unearned profit). eBay could easily deduct what sellers actually pay for shipping from the transaction.

Since many sellers quickly defend this practice since it has been done for a long time, eBay is now the only company to my knowledge that also earns a commission on State Tax (eBay combines the transaction fee and the commission into one FVF - mathematically incorrect in favor of eBay). Other companies just earn a low processing fee on the State Tax

Since that worked, last June eBay went ahead and added shipping and state tax to the cost of your item for the purpose of calculating promoted ad fees.

[mybigsale]

@inhawaii  

@ajs_coins_and_alchemy 

You are two funny people 😂

I appreciate the humor in your responses.

Of course, eBay earning a commission on your widget and eBay earning a commission on your costs are two different things.

I say yes to commission on transaction widgets.

No to commission on transaction costs.

Yes to transaction fees on transaction widgets and costs.

Of course, eBay created the "Simplified " FVF that combines Commission and transaction fee (mathematically incorrect in favor of eBay profit) after starting managed payments to eliminate the issue. eBay turned an F Grade in math to an A Grade for eBay profit.

YEAH!!???!?!!!?

[varebelrose]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

One more time.

$1 with $29 shipping

$30 with shipping included.

Which seller should pay more in fees for processing that payment

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Long term, the seller listing $1 with $29 shipping will cumulatively pay less fees. Not all states charge tax on S&H, so sales to those states would result in lower total price for buyer and lower fee for seller.

[meadowfairy]

I don't agree with Ebay charging FVF on shipping & taxes.  Plus, all fees have been increased, & I was never notified.  If a seller gives a partial refund, the fees are on the original final value.  The only time sellers get their fees back is for a full refund.  This isn't fair either. Buyers pay for items, without asking for a combined shipping invoice, & then ask for a refund.  Seller gives refund, & then are charged full fees.  The way Ebay was set up, if I made offers on more than one item from a seller, & the seller accepts offers; the buyer couldn't request an invoice through Ebay.  The seller would have to be messaged instead.  Also, if someone bought more than one item in buy it now from a seller, they also couldn't ask for a combined shipping invoice.  An error comes up saying that an invoice can't be requested.  A message would have to be sent to the seller.  Now Ebay has automatic payments.  If an offer is made on an item, and the seller accepts, it is automatically paid for. It is the same for buy it now and auctions, that the payments are automatic. I was told by Ebay I would have to request a refund from sellers after the payment is made for combined shipping.  Ebay told me that they changed to automatic payments so buyers wouldn't get non-payment strikes, and so sellers would get their money. 

[sakic92710]

I'm not an eBay apologist.   Instead of punishing the 1% who tried to scam eBay by doing the $1 sale + $29 shipping, they decided they should benefit from it & punish the other 99%.  They should have set a rule & suspend those who get caught for 1 week.  Second offense - permanent ban.  Nope!  Just TAKE from everyone for providing NO SERVICE for the fee.  Why punish someone who is abusing the system?  eBay doesn't want to lose out on those sellers' FVF.  It's all about greed.  Some sellers think it is fine for their business model to just add that % to the cost for the buyer when shipping costs have already become ridiculous?  Good luck with their sales then!

[mybigsale]

Unfortunately, the forums were created by eBay for eBay users to interact and help and not for eBay itself to help or benefit from user feedback. The forums are a great place to get assistance and guidance from other eBay sellers.

I can empathize with your issues, but there is nothing I can do to resolve your eBay issues.

I have been on eBay for over 20 years. In my opinion, eBay decides changes for their platform without understanding the wants and needs of their users. eBay makes changes based on what they want. eBay moderators and eBay support hear about how sellers and buyers feel about the changes after the fact. Most feedback ends there.

When sellers and buyers are persistent with forum moderators and/or eBay customer support it MAY result in your issue being taken seriously by someone in eBay that can actually help resolve your issue. eBay does not have a formal process to address user issues and requests (besides contacting eBay support).

You have lots of issues that I cannot help to resolve. I have not found eBay support to be particularly useful for most issues. For eBay specific issues, you can try contacting eBay support until you get satisfactory answers.

Good luck!

[joliztoyco]

Excellent Point.  Especially now that everyone uses Ebay shipping. Ebay knows exactly what it costs to ship your auction. And if you charged your buyer 50 dollars for shipping and it costs 8 bucks, eBay could easily levy a FVF on your total auction as well as "time off" for trying to scam the system. And if a seller doesn't want to use eBay shipping, they can pay the FVF on their shipping.
That's on them...

[monica-sells]

@meadowfairy 

"... If a seller gives a partial refund, the fees are on the original final value.  The only time sellers get their fees back is for a full refund..."

This is simply not true....you fees are refunded proportionately.

"...An error comes up saying that an invoice can't be requested..."

This is due to seller preferences. Check your settings and your "immediate payment" option.

[monica-sells]

OK...Curiousity got the best of me so...here goes

I can absolutely see why you are concerned about the FVF on shipping...

You can't sell items for under $10.00 and charge 10.50 for shipping and expect to make a decent profit

(if the shipping actually costs you 10.50)

You have priority mail as your choice.....

as a start, can't you ship those items 1st class? They look pretty small and under 16 ounces.......

I wouod make lots of 2 or 3 similar items to maximize my "spread"....

You can easily increase your "take-home" pay with a few adjustments......

[inhawaii]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

I'm not an eBay apologist.   Instead of punishing the 1% who tried to scam eBay by doing the $1 sale + $29 shipping, they decided they should benefit from it & punish the other 99%.  They should have set a rule & suspend those who get caught for 1 week.  Second offense - permanent ban.  Nope!  Just TAKE from everyone for providing NO SERVICE for the fee.  Why punish someone who is abusing the system?  eBay doesn't want to lose out on those sellers' FVF.  It's all about greed.  Some sellers think it is fine for their business model to just add that % to the cost for the buyer when shipping costs have already become ridiculous?  Good luck with their sales then!

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I'm not sure if you were around in those days but it was rampant.   I think a lot more than 1%.

It's also hard to police.  

Where do you draw the line as to what is a reasonable/unreasonable shipping charge?

Too many variables.

[mybigsale]

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@sakic92710 

@inhawaii 

I'm not sure if you were around in those days but it was rampant.   I think a lot more than 1%.

It's also hard to police.  

Where do you draw the line as to what is a reasonable/unreasonable shipping charge?

Too many variables.

Those days are over. Today, eBay knows what sellers using eBay shipping actually pay for shipping. eBay could easily ask services like Pirateship to update eBay with the actual shipping costs when they update the tracking number. The only variable would be a fair solution to sellers who pay at a physical shipping location, not too hard a problem.

It would be very ease for eBay to take out the amount sellers actually pay before charging a commission. They could easily collect a fair transaction fee on that portion.

When SOME sellers "robbed" eBay, eBay came up with a solution that punished everyone.

Now that eBay can have an easy solution that protects their interests from losing fees AND protects those sellers who were never guilty; It's a bad idea?

Bottom line, eBay is collecting commissions where they shouldn't and there could be an EASY solution. I don't understand how when sellers unfairly got around paying eBay fees it was more or less robbery, but when eBay reverses the tables and takes commissions that they don't deserve it is just business?

That was a rhetorical question. This is not about morality; it's about business. eBay makes more profit, and most sellers accept it because eBay has done it for a long time. So, no surprise most sellers also accept eBay earning a commission on State Tax.

And while we're at it earning the AD Fee on State Tax and Shipping which eBay just started last June. What is the logic (fairness) in that (besides eBay profit)?